Fa'amalo, malo le taumafai!

Tanya Moeono was our Race Unity Speech Awards 2024 Finalist.

Tanya flew to Auckland on Friday for the two day event, held at the marae of the Manukau Institute of Technology.

She got through the semi-finals on Saturday and took her place as one of seven finalists on Sunday.

Race Unity Hui are run in conjunction with the Speech Awards to give young people a voice on race relations in Aotearoa. Students from a variety of secondary schools nationwide in years 11-13 take part in this yearly competition.

This year’s topic was “Te Taura Tangata / The Rope of Unity”, and Tanya spoke eloquently, using Samoan, te reo Māori and English.

“Te Taura Tangata” highlights the value of social cohesion and community collaboration, fostering cohesion in Aotearoa / New Zealand through inclusivity, empathy, and respect for differing beliefs and diversity based on respectful relationships with each other and tangata whenua.

The metaphor of the ‘rope of unity’ symbolizes the idea that when people come together from different backgrounds they form a stronger, more resilient bond that can withstand the challenges of social division and build social cohesion. Just as the intertwining strands of a rope create a unified, cohesive whole that is stronger than each individual strand, unity among people creates a stronger unified society.

Her speech was awarded the Vision Award by judge Kimberley Wu, Director of Strategic Engagement and Partnerships from the Ministry for Ethnic Communities. This award is given to the speaker who best envisions Aotearoa as a multicultural society, founded on Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Ms Wu said, ”Tanya, I encourage you to keep your passion, to share your ideas, and to continue your journey of self-discovery”. Tanya was also praised for her “movement, dance and grace” by another of the judges, Meredith Casely, representing Speech New Zealand. Congratulations Tanya, we are so proud of you and we know your aiga is too.

The livestream is still available on the Facebook page, and Tanya is the first speaker at 43’ 49”

https://www.facebook.com/raceunityaotearoa/videos/1454826358742964/